I found this immensely helpful post by Mari over at The Purl Bee. For those of you not in the know, ahem, like I was (or wasn’t?) until recently, The Purl Bee is a gigantic treasure chest of inspiration, help and eye candy for the crafty (and crafty at heart). Their beautiful site is loaded with tutorals, knitting, crochet and sewing ideas, a glossary… of course if you happen to be in NYC you could sign up for one of their classes.

There are also tons helpful posts over at label-free (fantastical sewing site) : on cutting and one on sewing patterns from Japanese craft books – there are actually multiple helpful posts. So awesome – thank you sewing people!

Ok, one last link : My Daruma est un blog pour mes copines francophones! Beautiful creations, and many of them from or influenced by various Japanese craft books. Much of the blog is in French, but there are often little summaries in English, too.

I am so going to be making these little dresses…I just need a little practice, that’s all. And the right fabric.

And I forgot to say this super-important thing:

Get thineself over to Ricki’s blog right now! Have you heard her amazing news? She’s up for a well-deserved award and it’s up to us to help her! We’ve seen what can happen when people get out and vote in the recent past, so let’s keep the ball rolling kids! Get on over there and while you’re at it, sign up for her giveaway! (Shellyfish muttering under her breath something about wishing she lived in the greater Toronto, Ontario area in Canada because she too wants the homemade goodness).

Your flower pic :-) In this freezing weather over here, it is a much welcome sight. And thanks for passing along the link to The Purl Bee – I will definitely give it a try in the never-ending quest to get this knitting thing down.

glad you found some help with the sewing patterns, Shelly! and i quite like the picture of the flowers! gerber daisies = my fav! when dan & i got married i carried a whole bunch of colorful ones for my bouquet!

Aw, Shelly, you’re the best! Right now, it looks like Smitten Kitchen will win by a landslide. (Well, I suppose her little novice blog is OKAY). ;) But thanks so much for the support! I win for best blog readers. By a landslide. :)